Homemade Scour Powder

I got a sample of BNC's scour powder about a year ago and finally took the time to use it. My stove was getting pretty raunchy (*blush*) and that crossed the line for me. I had to clean my kitchen. So I decided to start out with the stove. I sprinkled the scour powder over the whole stovetop and then I paused for a minute and realised I wasn't quite sure what to do next.

The last time I used any type of scouring powder was in high school when my mom asked me to clean the bathroom with AJAX/Comet. I sprinkled it in the toilet bowl, in the sink and in the tub then scrubbed and rinsed. I never could stand the smell of AJAX or Comet, so I would do it as rapidly as I possibly could so I wouldn't have to smell it anymore. Once I moved out, I never touched it again, opting instead to use liquid cleaners.

Well, the liquid cleaners just weren't cutting it for the top of the stove, so I broke out the scour powder. I sprinkled it on the stove and then looked up online how to use it. Not only did I find how to use it, I also found simple recipes for making it. The recipes call for salt, borax and baking soda. You can do either 1 part of each or 1 part of borax, 1 part baking soda and 1/2 part salt. I probably won't use it very often since I still prefer liquid cleaners, and I prefer to clean messes as they are made to having to resort to using scour powder. As a result, I will choose to make the scour powder as needed rather than keeping it on hand. If you want to keep some ready made, though, just make sure you store it in an air-tight container as the baking soda will clump when exposed to air.

Another tip -- to make sure you have rinsed all of the solution off the surface, spray with a white vinegar solution. If there is any scour powder left on the surface you just cleaned, it will foam up and you'll know where you need to rinse a little more.